VIDEO: Johnny Carson interviews starlet Robyn Hilton (1974)

I confess that politics and religion have me feeling somewhat worn out. My blood pressure is rising, and my doctor says they don't make the happy pills any more, so why (he suggests) don't I watch some TV, chill out a bit. Well, I tried that, and it just made things worse. SNL makes me apoplectic. Nothing for it, then, but to go to YouTube to hunt up some funny stuff from the the Golden Age of TV, back in... errr...

OK, there was no time when TV was anything other than the "vast wasteland" described by Newton Minnow. Bit I distinctly remember a number of shows that I enjoyed watching. One was The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. I watched that show regularly from back in the Jack Paar days until Johnny retired and handed over to Jay Leno. One of the recurring features I enjoyed -- the Great Carnac was the best -- was Johnny's interviews with young and hugely talented (wink wink) starlets, like Robyn Hilton, who appeared on 17 January 1974.

Ms Hilton -- no relation to Paris -- was born Robyn Molinaux. She popped up (or out) here and there on US TV and movie screens in the 70s and 80s. Her only appearance that I can remember was in Mel Brooks' excellent comedy, Blazing Saddles. Wait a minute (I hear you saying), wasn't Madeline Kahn the only credited actress in that piece? Oh nooooo! Robyn Hilton played "Miss Stein", the secretary to Governor William J. Le Petomane, played by Mel Brooks himself. Remember now? On Johnny's show she appears as a blonde, and gives ample evidence of the reasons why she was cast in the role. Enjoy.